The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost only once in their last 14 games, but it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for LeBron James & Co.
James acknowledged after Sunday’s 120-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers that a cryptic tweet he fired off late Friday night indeed was directed at teammate Kevin Love.
[tweet https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/564281844271947777 align=’center’]
The tweet came after the Cavaliers fell to the Indiana Pacers to snap a 12-game winning streak. Love played 34 minutes in that game but finished with just five points.
After initially denying calling out Love — and admonishing the media for trying to “Da Vinci Code” his message — James admitted to a small group of reporters that the big man was the target of his tweet.
“It’s not a coincidence, man,” he said, via ESPN.com.
The wording of the tweet was a nod to an October quote of Love’s in which he discussed how he was “just not trying to, I guess, fit in so much.”
Love has struggled to perform on a nightly basis since joining James in Cleveland to form the NBA’s latest Big Three, but he was on top of his game Sunday. Love scored a season-high 32 points to go along with 10 rebounds in the win over the Lakers, and he hit on seven of his eight attempts from 3-point range.
James seemed to be making a conscious effort to get Love more involved in the Cavs’ offense, which the latter said he greatly appreciated.
“It’s huge,” Love said, via ESPN.com. “Whether I’m running the floor and ducking in or he’s calling a play for me to get it inside or out. He’s one of the best in the league at setting guys up. So when I’m on the other end of that and it’s a crisp pass coming from him, it’s going to be a good look.”
Thumbnail photo via Brace Hemmelgarn/USA TODAY Sports Images
